While all the news about the mortgage origination market in 2008 was about consolidation, cut-backs and funding crises, one small group that flew under the radar was able to make progress.Opportune Home Loans, which started in February last year with funding from ING Direct and Challenger, has grown from two to 13 branches.The group's managing director Paul Ryan, a veteran of the industry who worked at Wizard from 1996 to 2005, said Opportune was on track to operate 25 or 30 branches by the end of 2009.Ryan is not saying how much business Opportune has written in the past year but says it is getting the support of brokers with high commissions and a sharply priced rate card on its branded loans.Opportune is offering a standard variable rate mortgage at 6.44 percent, compared to the pricing of between 6.74 and 6.91 per cent for the majors.Ryan said commission rates on some products were as high as 80 basis points with 25 basis point trails. The range includes low doc, fixed rate and line of credit loans. He believes mortgage originators can compete with banks if their get their business model right. "We don't have fixed costs and we don't have big advertising and marketing budgets."Each branch is run by a regional director who holds a licence with us. It is not a franchise system because we don't charge franchise fees."The regional director is free to work with accountants and independent brokers in their region. Our model gives them a lot of freedom."There are lot of experienced loan writers out there and at the moment they are all writing business for the banks. They are looking for alternatives and so are their customers."Ryan said another feature of the Opportune business model was to offer equity to licensees. "Franchise operators came out of Wizard and Rams with nothing. We have set aside an amount of equity that we will share amongst regional directors."Ryan has no plans to sell anything but mortgages. He is not a fan of the idea that originators should diversify into personal loans, insurance and even managed funds."These guys spend their day arranging $300,000 loans. Why would they turn around and write a personal loan?"Ryan thinks that another factor that will help the business is the way the big banks are approaching the market. "As the majors have come to the view that they dominate the market again they have become harder to deal with and slower with their approvals. Some groups, such as the self-employed, are not getting good service."